byWendelinVanDraanenALLen Reads' mid-level reading selection features the Sammy Keyes mystery series (14 titles to date)
Publisher Description: In her newest adventure, junior high detective Sammy Keyes and her friends take a detour through a graveyard on Halloween night and find themselves in the middle of a mystery. Sammy must figure out how three missing people, two human skulls, and one ghoulish embalmer add up before she winds up six feet under herself! And school presents its own set of tricks and treats. Sammy knows that a classmate is guilty of beating up a man on Halloween night. Should she obey the law and tell Officer Borsch? Or should she obey the junior high code and keep quiet? Life and death and truth and justice have never been so tangled up...
The following discussion questions have been posted individually in the discussion section of this page. Please join the wiki and begin posting if you wish to participate. (Note: You do NOT have to wait to be approved before you being commenting)
Who are the characters that revolve around Sammy’s life? Which is your favorite? Why? How does Van Draanen develop them for the reader?
Describe Sammy. Would you, likeGrams, want to have her as your best friend through middle school? Why or why not?
Compare Marissa’s life to Sammy’s. What are the differences between them? Why does Marissa consider Sammy lucky despite living inthe Senior Highrise?
Do you think Sammy gets herself in deeper trouble or does it just find her somehow? Do you think she’s capable of staying out of a mystery? Are you?
Find a favorite description (or scene of dialogue) from one of the Sammy Keyes mysteries. What did you learn as a writer by studying this part? What can you apply to your next piece of writing?
Which of the Sammy Keyes mysteries is your favorite? Why? What elements make a terrific mystery?
What is it about Hudson Graham that makes Sammy confide in him? Do you have someone like Hudson in your life?
Van Draanen often uses cliffhanger chapter endings. What purpose do these serve?
In almost all Sammy Keyes books there are three plotlines woven together—Sammy’s school life, her home life, and the mystery. How does this structure help move the story along?
In her newest adventure, junior high detective Sammy Keyes and her friends take a detour through a graveyard on Halloween night and find themselves in the middle of a mystery. Sammy must figure out how three missing people, two human skulls, and one ghoulish embalmer add up before she winds up six feet under herself!
And school presents its own set of tricks and treats. Sammy knows that a classmate is guilty of beating up a man on Halloween night. Should she obey the law and tell Officer Borsch? Or should she obey the junior high code and keep quiet?
Life and death and truth and justice have never been so tangled up...
The following discussion questions have been posted individually in the discussion section of this page. Please join the wiki and begin posting if you wish to participate. (Note: You do NOT have to wait to be approved before you being commenting)